The purpose of this study is to determine whether the style of a user interface (i.e., its look and feel) has an effect on the usability of a synchronous computer supported cooperative work (CSCW) environment for delivering Internet-based collaborative content. The problem motivating this study is that people who are located in different places need to be able to communicate with one another. One way to do this is by using complex computer tools that allow users to share information, documents, programs, etc. As an increasing number of business organizations require workers to use these types of complex communication tools, it is important to determine how users regard these types of tools and whether they are perceived to be useful. If a tool, or interface, is not perceived to be useful then it is often not used, or used ineffectively. As organizations strive to improve communication with and among users by providing more Internet-based collaborative environments, the users' experience in this form of delivery may be tied to a style of user interface look and feel that could negatively affect their overall acceptance and satisfaction of the collaborative environment. The significance of this study is that it applies the technology acceptance model (TAM) as a tool for evaluating style of user interface look and feel in a collaborative environment, and attempts to predict which factors of that model, perceived ease of use and/or perceived usefulness, could lead to better acceptance of collaborative tools within an organization.

For the first time ever, mobile payments in Sweden have overtaken cash as the preferred method of payment when it comes to monthly payments. With cashless payments growing in Sweden and all over the world it is clear that mobile payment methods are going to increase in our everyday lives. As elders tend to have more difficulties learning and understanding software, it is not unlikely that this will affect the adoption of mobile payment methods. As cash is rapidly disappearing as a payment method in Sweden it is important to gain insight into which factors affect the acceptance of mobile payment methods among senior citizens, as they are the most frequent users of cash today. This is a qualitative case study where five seniors have been interviewed about their opinions on mobile payments based on a theoretical model of mobile adoption consisting of eleven variables. The interviews came to center around the Swedish mobile payment application Swish as it was the only mobile payment service that the participants were aware of and had experience using. The study’s goal is to gain knowledge of what variables are of importance to the senior consumers when deciding whether or not to adopt a mobile payment system. The main findings of the study are that the variables: social influence, attractiveness of alternatives and trust are the variables that have been seen to affect the senior citizens' adoption of mobile payment the most.

[ES] A las universidades actuales no se les demanda solamente que actúen como centros de enseñanza e investigación, sino que contribuyan al desarrollo económico y social de los territorios en los que están implantadas. Una de las maneras en las que las universidades pueden contribuir a este desarrollo es mediante la transferencia de conocimiento de investigación aplicada que contribuya a la generación de riqueza y puestos de trabajo. Otra es incrementar la empleabilidad de sus egresados facilitando su incorporación al sistema productivo. En este sentido, la universidad puede jugar un papel relevante facilitando una formación que potencie y desarrolle el sentido de la iniciativa y el emprendimiento de sus estudiantes, considerado una de las habilidades fundamentales demandadas en el siglo XXI. Asimismo, la formación en el espíritu emprendedor de los estudiantes pasa por el uso de metodologías docentes que sean innovadoras y motivadoras y, por lo tanto, capaces de hacer frente a los retos a los que se enfrenta la educación superior actual. En este sentido, en los últimos años, se ha señalado la capacidad de la gamificación como herramienta de instrucción altamente motivadora y eficaz. Los estudios actuales señalan asimismo las posibilidades del uso de la gamificación para desarrollar la competencia emprendedora entre los estudiantes universitarios. No obstante, el profesorado es un elemento clave en la implantación de las metodologías y aproximaciones pedagógicas empleadas en el aula. Por este motivo, el objetivo principal de esta tesis es analizar las actitudes e intención de uso de la gamificación, por parte del profesorado universitario, como metodología docente dirigida a desarrollar la competencia emprendedora de los estudiantes universitarios. Con este objetivo se plantea un diseño exploratorio de corte cuantitativo orientado a conocer la actitud e intención de uso del profesorado universitario hacia la gamificación como metodología docente con la que desarrollar la competencia emprendedora de los estudiantes universitarios. Para alcanzar este objetivo se desarrolla, y valida, un modelo predictivo que incluye tanto variables personales (edad, género,) como moduladoras (clima laboral) explicativas de la actitud e intención de uso del profesorado universitario. Los resultados sugieren que la actitud frente al uso resulta explicada fundamentalmente por la utilidad percibida, y en menor medida por el clima laboral, la edad y el género. Por otro lado, la intención de uso se explica básicamente por la utilidad percibida y la edad, y en menor grado por la actitud, el clima laboral y el género. / [CA] En els últims anys, a les universitats no se'ls demanda únicament que actuen com a centres d'ensenyament i investigació, sinó que contribuïsquen al desenvolupament econòmic i social dels territoris en els quals estan implantades. Una de les maneres en les quals les universitats poden contribuir a aquest desenvolupament és mitjançant la transferència de coneixement d'investigació aplicada, que contribuïsca a la generació de riquesa i llocs de treball. Una altra és incrementar l'ocupabilitat dels seus egressats, facilitant la seua incorporació al sistema productiu. En aquest sentit, la universitat pot jugar un paper rellevant facilitant una formació que potencie i desenvolupe el sentit de la iniciativa i l'emprenedoria dels seus estudiants, considerat una de les habilitats fonamentals demandades en el segle XXI. Així mateix, la formació en l'esperit emprenedor dels estudiants passa per l'ús de metodologies docents que siguen innovadores i motivadores i, per tant, capaces de fer front als reptes als quals s'enfronta l'educació superior actual. En aquest sentit, en els últims anys, s'ha assenyalat la capacitat de la gamificació com a eina d'instrucció altament motivadora i eficaç. Els estudis actuals assenyalen així mateix les possibilitats de l'ús de la gamificació per a desenvolupar la competència emprenedora entre els estudiants universitaris. No obstant això, el professorat és un element clau en la implantació de les metodologies i aproximacions pedagògiques emprades a l'aula. Per aquest motiu, l'objectiu principal d'aquesta tesi és analitzar les actituds i intenció d'ús de la gamificació, per part del professorat universitari, com a metodologia docent dirigida a desenvolupar la competència emprenedora dels estudiants universitaris. Amb aquest objectiu es planteja un disseny exploratori de tall quantitatiu orientat a conéixer l'actitud i intenció d'ús del professorat universitari cap a la ludificació com a metodologia docent amb la qual desenvolupar la competència emprenedora dels estudiants universitaris. Amb aquest objectiu es desenvolupa, i valguda, un model predictiu que inclou tant variables personals (edat, gènere,) com a moduladores (clima laboral) explicatives de l'actitud i intenció d'ús del professorat universitari. Els resultats suggereixen que l'actitud enfront de l'ús resulta explicada fonamentalment per la utilitat percebuda, i en menor mesura pel clima laboral, l'edat i el gènere. D'altra banda, la intenció d'ús s'explica bàsicament per la utilitat percebuda i l'edat, i en menor grau per l'actitud, el clima laboral i el gènere. / [EN] In recent years, universities are not only required to perform as teaching and research centers, but also to be part of the economic and social development of the territories in which they are located. To do so, universities can contribute in many ways, like transfering applied research knowledge that helps in the generation of wealth and jobs or by increasing the employability of their graduates by facilitating their incorporation into the productive system. In this sense, the university as an institution can play a relevant role by providing training that enhances and develops the sense of initiative and entrepreneurship of its students, considered one of the fundamental skills demanded in the 21st century. Likewise, training students in entrepreneurship requires the use of teaching methodologies that are both innovative and motivating and, therefore, capable of meeting the challenges faced by today's higher education. In this sense, in recent years, the capacity of gamification as a highly motivating and effective instructional tool has been pointed out. Current studies also focus on the possibilities of using gamification to develop entrepreneurial competence among university students. Taking this into account and considering that teachers are still a key element in the implementation of the methodologies and pedagogical approaches used in the classroom, the main objective of this thesis is to analyze the attitudes and intention to use gamification, by university teachers, as a teaching methodology aimed at developing the entrepreneurial competence of university students. With this objective, an exploratory design of quantitative cut is proposed, oriented to know the attitude and intention of use of university professors towards gamification as a teaching methodology, to develop the entrepreneurial competence of university students. Having this objective in mind, a predictive model is developed -and validated- that includes both personal variables (age, gender) and modulating variables (work environment) that explain the attitude and intention of university professors towards the use of gamification as a teaching methodology to develop the entrepreneurial competence of university students. The results suggest that attitude towards the use of gamification is explained mainly by perceived usefulness, and to a lesser extent by work environment, age and gender. On the other hand, intention to use is basically explained by perceived usefulness and age, and to a lesser extent by attitude, work environment and gender. / Seguí Mas, DM. (2021). El uso de la gamificación en la enseñanza del emprendimiento: actitud e intención de uso por parte del profesorado universitario [Tesis doctoral]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/172236 / TESIS

The following study examines the background of users’ decisions about their behavior concerning online identity, specifically looking at the acceptance or rejection of self-sovereign identity solutions and the technologies that support them: blockchain and asymmetric encryption. A qualitative analysis is presented of typical user narratives concerning online behavior, while exploring the cultural values underlying users’ decisions about accepting or rejecting new, potentially emancipatory technologies. The results include inventories of values and beliefs that played a key part in informing the respondents’ behaviors, and presents four distilled narratives of reasoning about online identity in the form of the archetypes of the ​Pragmatist, the Self-doubter, the ​Cyber-conscious and the ​Futurist user, each representing a specific set of values, beliefs and their interplay resulting in specific intentions and behaviors, along with design guidelines for innovative blockchain technologies based on the user expectations in these narratives. The research concludes with relating the findings to existing theory, and proposing a number of quantitatively testable hypotheses for the refinement of technology acceptance research in the specific domain of online security and identity.

M.Tech (Department of Information technology, Faculty of Applied and Computer Science), Vaal University of Technology. / The advancement of technology, particularly in the area of mobile computing, revolutionizes the way business is done in many industries such as the education sector, government sector, financial institutions, retail sector and the way people conduct their daily activities. The current technology provides influential tools for organisations and can significantly influence their operation, structure and approach. The development of mobile computing has created a new innovation for various industries by increasing the availability, frequency and speed of communication between the organisations and the individuals. However, users’ perceptions can play an important role towards the adoption of these new developments. The overriding purpose of this study was to investigate the users’ perceptions on the security of mobile computing in South Africa for adoption of e-applications. The literature review was concentrated on the process of progressive development occurring during the study. To accomplish that goal it became necessary to reach some essential objectives i.e. investigating the users’ perceptions models in literature. For the purpose of the study, it was important to propose a research framework for users’ perceptions on the security of mobile computing with the potential for the adoption of e-applications in South Africa. The research evaluated the proposed framework to establish if there is any relationship between the e-application adoption factors. Furthermore, the hypotheses were tested to determine which factors would influence the adoption of e-applications in South Africa. Technology Adoption Model 2 (TAM2) and Diffusion of Innovation (DOI) provide the theoretical basis for explaining how users perceive e-application services that they access and operate through mobile computing. To achieve that, a quantitative study was conducted with South African residents, with respect to mobile security perceptions; 476 valid questionnaires were received from the participants who were selected non-randomly. Questionnaires were developed from the proposed research framework derived from DOI and TAM2 and the items were adopted from other prior technology adoption studies. Through the use of the survey instrument developed for this study, data were collected in order to address the importance of this study based on the problem statement posed in the first chapter of this dissertation. The valid questionnaires were analysed by using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS), Version 24.0. Reliability analysis, principal component analysis, correlations and multiple linear regression tests were conducted. Among other things this study made sure that ethical considerations are adhered to. The findings revealed positive relationships between perceived usefulness of security mechanisms, perceived ease of use of security mechanisms, subjective norm on security mechanisms, relative advantage of security mechanisms, compatibility of security mechanisms, complexity of security mechanisms, aesthetics of security mechanisms interface and intention to adopt e-applications. Furthermore, subjective norm on security mechanisms was strongly correlated to intention to adopt e-applications, complexity of security mechanisms strongly correlated to perceived usefulness of security mechanisms, relative advantage of security mechanisms and aesthetic of security mechanisms interface strongly correlated to perceived usefulness of security mechanisms. In addition, subjective norm of security mechanisms strongly influence intention to adopt eapplications in South Africa. Also, aesthetics of security mechanisms interface strongly influence both perceived usefulness of security mechanisms and perceived ease of use of security mechanisms. The reason behind it may be interpreted as users nowadays seeing the beauty as the platform to attract and encourage them to use e-applications. Finally, the proposed model analysis and survey evaluation will enable South African organizations to make informed decisions about the use of e-applications services. These findings contribute to a road map for the education sector, government sector, financial institutions, and retail sector as well as to encourage their customers or clients to adopt e-applications.

Background: Emerging in December 2019, the COVID-19 pandemic profoundly changed consumer behaviour leading to social distancing and mitigating physical contact. Statistics show an increased use of contactless and mobile payment usage and adoption during the pandemic. It is unclear how valid previous models on mobile payment adoption explain adoption behaviour in emergency situations. While there are few studies approaching the adoption behaviour during the pandemic, there is also little previous research on mobile payment adoption prior to the pandemic in Germany. Purpose: The present thesis intends to advance several previously researched technological adoption frameworks to focus on and measure consumers’ perception of mobile payment technology adopting during the COVID-19 pandemic. Hence, our model provides a basis to understand mobile payment adoption in Germany during the pandemic. Method: Based on hypotheses derived from an adapted UTAUT2 model, we conducted quantitative deductive research reaching 258 questionnaire participants based in Germany. The empirical data was analysed through structural equation modelling. Conclusion: The findings show that Performance Expectancy still represents the primary driver of intention to adopt mobile payments during the pandemic, yet it is strongly supported by the initially contextualised Contamination Avoidance element and complemented by Habit, Effort Expectancy. Practitioners benefit from the study to better tailor campaigns in accordance with the main driver of adoption behaviour, while our findings contribute new insights into technology adoption in Germany during emergency situations.

This study investigates the 404 error and in what way feedback should be given to the user in an error message to generate a good user experience. To investigate this, data was gathered from 1) a literature review looking at previous studies in User Experience Design, as well as different models to evaluate ease of use and perceived usefulness, 2) a pre-study questionnaire with nine participants who were asked questions related to error messages and feedback in general, and 3) two user tests; the first including 16 participants and the second including 46 participants. During the user tests the participants interacted with a prototype of a website that included 404 error messages. In the first user test the participants' user experience was evaluated based on the TAM model, including perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use. The second user study focused more on text and illustrations and their effects on the user experience. Three versions of texts were tested, formal, apologetic and amusing. The illustrations either included a character or an object. The result showed that, in general, the users preferred formal texts, as well as illustrations that included a character. The result also suggested that there is not one type of feedback that fits all users, in order to generate a good user experience, it is important to know the audience.

Service delivery in the twenty-first generation is evolving into more digital forms expanding the consumers' experience and engaging in new forms of communications to consumers through these digital forms. Despite the initiation of self- service technology being widely accepted by consumers within the retail banking industry, the supermarket retail industry has yet to experience the same form of reception and implementation of the self- service technologies (SST). South Africa, being a developing country, any conventions that lead to the country’s progression should be embraced. Thus, the introduction of SST within retail is assumed to enhance consumer's experiences, these technologies open the prospects to generate possibilities for producing new services and enhancing efficiency.The study aimed at evaluating factors of perception through the employment of a conceptualized framework from the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). An understanding of why SSTs in retail have not been widely implemented would respond to the challenges associated with the adoption of SSTs from a consumer’s perspective. The findings, from a questionnaire survey posed, revealed that there is a high expression on the intention of using the technologies should the opportunity presents itself. Most of the participants exhibited a high familiarity with the self-service technologies, online purchasing, and self- check- out services, thus the measure of intent resulted in a high margin.

There is a lot of demand from society or the government to incorporate ICT into preschool and education in general. However, no research in this area has been found that specifically cites technology's capacity to address concerns connected to planning, and systematic quality work in the preschool context. Technology integration, on the other hand, has ramifications for teachers, who face first- and second-order barriers to technological acceptance. In this study, we identify the determinants of technology acceptance among preschool teachers in Sweden. This study follows a mixed-method approach that comprises 12 semi-structured interviews and a self-completion survey of 9 respondents. The qualitative results were analyzed by a thematic analysis process and the quantitative results with descriptive statistics. We identified that job relevance, external control,  result demonstrability, output quality and internal control are the main determinants that play a crucial role in technological acceptance. We also found the persistence of the first-order barrier to the acceptance of technology. This finding contradicts an earlier study where it was stated that the first-order barriers were decreasing in schools. It was, however, discovered that several first-order obstacles in the form of external control factors still exist. Furthermore, it was also found that social factors such as voluntariness, image and subjective norm did not play a crucial role in technology acceptance. Finally, our results show that the use of technology has helped teachers in the documentation and planning, as well as identify the benefits of systematic quality work.

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